Where in your opinion does Andy play his most 'attractive' Tennis?

Now to be quite honest I'm not too bothered about Andy playing uber defensive to win, as let's face it, a win is a win. But there is moments when I wish he would play his attractive counter-punch/attacking style a little bit more.

In my eyes Andy's most attractive Tennis comes at the Asian Swing. He plays some phenomenal stuff. The bagel of Nadal was beautiful in Tokyo, the drubbing of Federer in the Shanghai 2012 Semi Final, heck, even in the loss to Nole in the final Andy produced some epic Tennis, and it was probably the best match (quality wise) the two had all year.

My instinct was to say grass, Andy has played some wonderful tennis on the grass at Queen's and Wimbledon. However, in the interest of keeping things different, and giving it some thought, I'm going to go for the night matches under the lights on Ashe at the USO. I don't think I'll ever forget watching him dismantle Raonic last year on Ashe, or giving Dodig a lesson, and as for the final.......well!

I think I'm right in saying that Andy has never lost a night match on Ashe, so it must do something for him, and long may it continue!

Wimbledon and Australian Open have always been his best tournaments. Played some absolutely stunning stuff in Melbourne. Shanghai is a good call as well.

Posted this clip on the Videos thread a while back. Some of his best ever points have come at the Aussie Open. Nothing still comes close to THAT shot against Cilic in 2010. His performance against Rafa in that same year was one of the best matches he's played.

I always thought his first Slam would come there, and if not for Djokovic's dominance there (also tends to play his best stuff there) I'm sure he would have.

Prod, your selections are, let's say, selective but Andy does have a trend to play better around that time.

I’d say grass brings out the best in Andy. If this was a longer season we would have noticed it more. And then Brisbane, AO etc. around that time. I guess Andy feels fresh and ready at the start of the year and since grass comes very naturally to him, he feels quite relaxed on that surface. It usually brings out his best almost all the time. The only time I’ve seen him not playing as well when he gets a bit nervous.

Prod, your selections are, let's say, selective but Andy does have a trend to play better around that time.

I’d say grass brings out the best in Andy. If this was a longer season we would have noticed it more. And then Brisbane, AO etc. around that time. I guess Andy feels fresh and ready at the start of the year and since grass comes very naturally to him, he feels quite relaxed on that surface. It usually brings out his best almost all the time. The only time I’ve seen him not playing as well when he gets a bit nervous.

Wait, what? How are my selections, selective? I feel Andy's most attractive Tennis can be seen during the asian swing. Grass is a close second.

Wait, what? How are my selections, selective? I feel Andy's most attractive Tennis can be seen during the asian swing. Grass is a close second.

Because you are only talking about 3 specific matches and one of them is a loss. Andy's been far more consistent both at Wimbledon and Queens but Wimbledon in particular. In fact, I would put Wimbledon, AO, and Asian Swing in that order.

And Toronto is definitely another favourite tournament of Andy's where he tends to play very well - last year notwithstanding. We can easily credit Olympics for that.

Because you are only talking about 3 specific matches and one of them is a loss. Andy's been far more consistent both at Wimbledon and Queens but Wimbledon in particular. In fact, I would put Wimbledon, AO, and Asian Swing in that order.

And Toronto is definitely another favourite tournament of Andy's where he tends to play very well - last year notwithstanding. We can easily credit Olympics for that.

I was using them as examples Emma Jean, I never claimed those were the only matches he played his most attractive Tennis. And yes, I included a loss, because like or not, Andy loses, I don't care, as long as he puts 100% into it, and in that match he did, sadly it wasn't enough, but it was still a great match, hence why I used it as an example of him playing attractive Tennis.

Usually I would agree on him playing attractive Tennis at the AO, but tbh I don't think Andy's Tennis was that attractive this year at the AO, he was in defense mode throughout the tournament and only played an aggressive style vs Federer.

It's a mystery to me to be honest. Could be all that including sushi. And the pressure being off – it makes sense. But now that the Slam draught is over, it will be interesting to see how he fares around that time. All this time he had to focus on some other stuff, but now, if he wants to get the No. 1 ranking going for him, he will have to play consistent tennis throughout year and he'd be expected to win a lot of tournaments all year round. So by the time Asian swing is around, he might find himself a bit jaded. It has happened to the best of the bunch. Sampras would only concentrate on WTF for example. Nadal is almost flat around that time and we saw Nole not doing remarkably well since 2011 - though 2012 was a bit better for him.

I was using them as examples Emma Jean, I never claimed those were the only matches he played his most attractive Tennis. And yes, I included a loss, because like or not, Andy loses, I don't care, as long as he puts 100% into it, and in that match he did, sadly it wasn't enough, but it was still a great match, hence why I used it as an example of him playing attractive Tennis.

Usually I would agree on him playing attractive Tennis at the AO, but tbh I don't think Andy's Tennis was that attractive this year at the AO, he was in defense mode throughout the tournament and only played an aggressive style vs Federer.

I'd say if Andy plays aggressive tennis and if he's really into the match, he is usually the winner - doesn't matter who the opponent is. He could have beaten Nole in that Shanghai final last year if he was in that zone but he wasn’t. But that could be attributed to the fact that Andy was just coming off a big win – as big as his first GS – so obviously, I don’t feel he played his best there but played well enough. Mind you, I too had seen the matches.

Anyway, I’d say that too affected his performance at the Australian Open this year. Typically, if we look back, we’ll see Andy has played some of his best matches at the AO and this is also where he’s made the final of GS the most.

But we can disagree on this as long as we agree that these are the tournaments he tends to play his best - Wimbledon, AO and Asian Swing.

I think Andy plays the most attractive tennis on grass. He nearly always serves really well on grass (such a contrast with how he serves on clay usually) and the court speed helps him to be more aggressive. He can also use his slice really well on the grass, and doesn't have problems with the low bounce like many players do. And of course he moves beautifully on the surface which gives him such an advantage.

I also agree with him playing great tennis during the Asian swing and in Toronto/Montreal. I'd say medium/fast hardcourts help his game the most. But I also loved the tennis he played at the Australian Open 2010, and for parts of the 2012 run too (especially the match against Novak). I really thought he was going to win the Aussie Open in 2010 - he definitely was playing the best tennis up until the final.